50 million blooms to wow visitors at Dubai Miracle Garden

Dubai - Now in its sixth year, more floral installations have been added to the 72,000 sqm garden park located in Al Barsha South 3.

The flowers are in full bloom once again at the Dubai Miracle Garden (DMG) and the seasonal lush orchard - comprising over 50 million flowers from 250 million plants - opens to the public today.

Now in its sixth year, more floral installations have been added to the 72,000 sqm garden park located in Al Barsha South 3. An extra 20 per cent flowers are on display this year, compared to 2016, and some of last year's standout structures were refurbished and given a more 'flowery' look.

Khaleej Times got an exclusive tour of DMG on Monday. Welcoming visitors to DMG at Gate 1 is a giant floral turtle and guests will then be led to a row of sunflowers, portraying this year's theme: 'Sunflower Lovers'.

The Guinness World Records holder of "biggest flower structure in the world" - the Emirates Airbus 380 - is back and enhanced with more sustainable flowers.

For the first time, visitors can also enjoy 3D mapping videos on a palatial flower screen and the Emirates jumbo plane. A significant added attraction is a 12 metre-high floral teddy bear.

After enjoying a stroll in the garden and smelling the flowers, visitors can rest their tired feet and recharge at the food and beverage areas. They can even take a nap on the Caribbean hammocks or any of the floating flower beds.

Abdel Naser Rahhal, founder and creator of DMG, said: "In every season, DMG challenges itself to carve a special place in the hearts of visitors, with breathtaking visuals and an experience that they are sure to share with friends and families."

But nurturing the flowers - there are more than 120 flower varieties - is nothing short of a miracle, given the fact that blooms should be planted three or four months before the start of every DMG season. "This means we have to plant them sometime in July, which is the peak of summer (when the mercury reaches 50 degrees here)," Rahhal told Khaleej Times.

This (hot weather) is really a big challenge but we always think something different and, for us, this is not just a hobby. We carefully study the plants and create our own concept. We don't leave anything to chance," he added.

Rahhal said to get the right variety of sunflower suitable for the Dubai weather, they had to experiment for one year 15 varieties of sunflower for one year.

"With our unmatched legacy in botanical landscape and creativity of the designers, we have reached a stage where people anticipate out-of-the-box installations every year. Our preparations are aligned with the expectations, and this season is no exception," Rahhal concluded.

Garden of miracles is back and how!

>20% increase in the number of flowers this year compared to last year

>50 million flowers and more than 250 million plants are used every season

>120 flowers varieties

>72,000sqm is the total size of the garden

>2,000 cars can be parked in the 60,000-sqm parking lot outside the garden

>Ticket price: Dh40 for adults; Dh30 for children aged 12 years and below; free for toddlers aged two years and below

>Dates of operation: November 7, 2017, to May 2018

angel@khaleejtimes.com